Free interactive map
Market Explorer
Pick a state, color it by the demographics that drive your concept, and rank every county or census tract against a weighted model you control. Drop a pin to score markets by distance from where you actually are.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO · Demographics: US Census Bureau ACS 2018–2022 (5-year estimates)
Territory is the decision you cannot undo. A franchise agreement ties you to a protected radius for a decade or more, and the demographics inside that radius set the ceiling on what the location can ever earn. Brands will show you their own market scoring; this tool lets you check it against the public record before you sign.
Market Explorer colors every county — or, if you zoom in, every census tract — in a state using US Census American Community Survey data: median household income, share of households above $100k, median age, bachelor's-degree attainment, homeownership, population density, and more. Drop a pin on a city, ZIP, or your current location, set a drive radius, and the areas within it are ranked against a weighted model you control.
The weights are the point. A recovery studio that sells $200 monthly memberships cares about affluent-household share far more than raw population; a high-volume gym concept is the reverse. Slide the factors to match your economics, flag the areas worth a site visit, and export the ranked list to CSV to bring to a broker or a discovery day.
The model
Opportunity score = weighted blend of income, affluent-household share, education, population density, target-age concentration, and distance from your pin. Each factor is scaled 0-100 against the other areas in the state, multiplied by your weight, and renormalized across whichever factors have data.
Related guide: How to choose a franchise site
Frequently asked questions
- Where does the data come from?
- US Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates for demographics, and Census TIGER cartographic boundaries for the county and tract shapes. Both are public domain and update annually. Place and ZIP search uses the Census Gazetteer files.
- What is the difference between county and tract view?
- Counties are the right grain for comparing markets across a state — which metro deserves a look. Census tracts are neighborhood-sized, usually 1,200 to 8,000 people, and are the right grain for deciding where inside a metro a site should go. Tract view is where trade-area differences actually show up.
- Does a high score mean I should open there?
- No. The score reflects demographics only. It knows nothing about competition, traffic counts, available real estate, local regulation, or whether the brand has already sold the territory. Treat a high score as a reason to investigate, not a decision.
- Can I use this to check a brand's territory claims?
- That is one of its better uses. If a franchisor tells you a territory has strong household income or a large target-age population, you can verify the underlying Census figures for the exact counties or tracts involved before you rely on the claim.